A popular type of boat is a pontoon boat. A pontoon boat includes, generally, pontoons that support a boat deck that, in turn, accommodates the passengers. Pontoons on such boats are generally designed as displacement structures, meaning that they support the weight of the boat and passengers by displacement of water, even when the boat is moving through the water at normal, design, operating speeds. In contrast, another type of boat hull is designed to support the weight of the boat by the kinematical forces applied to the hull by the water when the boat is moving at operating speeds. This latter type of hull is commonly known as a “planing” type of hull.
The planing type of hull is generally used for boats that operate at higher speeds and require more maneuverability, such as a boat for pulling a water skier. Users of pontoon boats, however, often want to run at higher speeds, for example, to pull water skiers. While it is not difficult to provide a pontoon boat with an engine having the horsepower to drive a pontoon boat at higher speeds, it has been difficult to provide a pontoon hull with handling characteristics similar to those of a V-hull such that the boat can be safely used in higher-speed activities.
A typical problem with a pontoon boat is its tendency to rotate toward the outside of a turn. This is an unstable motion, which if done at high speeds can be very dangerous. A planing type V-hull naturally tends to rotate toward the inside of a turn, which lends stability to that type of hull and allows it to be used at higher speeds. Thus, there is a need for a higher powered, sport type pontoon boat that handles safely at higher speeds.